The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Alstroemeria plant, botanically known as Alstroemeria hybrida, commercially used as a cut flower Alstroemeria, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Zalsafes’.
The new Alstroemeria is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Hillegom, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new cut flower Alstroemeria cultivars with desirable flower and plant qualities, attractive flower colors and excellent postproduction longevity.
The new Alstroemeria originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in June, 1997 in Hillegom, The Netherlands, of a proprietary Alstroemeria hybrida selection identified as 96177-007, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Alstroemeria hybrida selection identified as 96130-002, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Alstroemeria was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Hillegom, The Netherlands in 1998.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by root divisions in a controlled environment in Hillegom, The Netherlands, since August, 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Alstroemeria are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.